The NBA is currently in its “hot market season,” according to Erik Levin, Vice President and Senior Intellectual Property Counsel for the NBA.

Yet, Levin is not speaking about the league’s promising ratings during the Finals — which have averaged nearly 15 million viewers per game — but rather, he’s referencing the NBA’s chronic counterfeit problem.

(Courtesy of NBA)

Currently, the NBA grants almost 300 licenses worldwide for companies to sell merchandise and apparel featuring the league’s logo and name in a legal manner. There are then those entities that do not abide by the law.

According to the league, counterfeiting costs American businesses $200-250 million on an annual basis. Through its membership in the Coalition to Advance the Protection of Sports logos (CAPS), the NBA has been involved in the confiscation of 10 million-plus pieces of counterfeit merchandise over the past 20 years.

“Counterfeiting not only harms local retailers, it also takes away from the overall fan experience,” said Ayala Deutsch, Senior Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for the NBA.

Levin said that there are counterfeit groups who traverse the country and make stops at all of the major sporting events including the Super Bowl, NHL All Star Game, NBA All Star Game, MLB Opening Day and the NBA Finals.

Product is easily detectable as counterfeit based on the color scheme, misspellings and irregular marks on the merchandise. Some counterfeiters are becoming even more creative in their strategy to dupe consumers. Few groups will capture a picture of an officially licensed product, place it on their own website and mislead fans into thinking that they are purchasing what they would normally see on a website like NBAStore.com.

Once a fan washes a counterfeit product, he will notice it is “inferior in nature,” according to Levin. Colors will run together, apparel will shrink one or two sizes and the merchandise unfortunately becomes unwearable.

“The memento that you thought you were getting by attending a special event like the NBA playoffs or Finals is lost,” Levin added.

In the late 1990s, U.S. Customs officials and local law enforcement personnel would seize large cargo shipments en route from Asia to the States. Fast forward to 2014 and with the advent of the internet, the distribution of counterfeit products has completely shifted. Now, smaller shipments are coming overseas. As a result, government officials are seizing more shipments but still about the same amount of unlicensed product.

Last year between San Antonio and Miami in the playoffs, roughly 6,000 pieces of counterfeit merchandise were confiscated whereas in 2014, only a few hundred units have been seized and/or voluntarily surrendered. Through the first three games of the NBA Finals, 800-plus units of counterfeit product have been seized. That number will continue to rise throughout the remaining games of the Finals and even well after the NBA season comes to a close.

Mark Burns is a contributor on sports business for Sporting News. He is currently an Editorial Assistant with USA Hockey Magazine. Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkJBurns88 .